My life to live in French New Wa

My life to live(1962), made by Jean-Luc Godard, is a story about Nana, a beautiful prostitute. As Godard made his major contribution in Cannes 1959 through A Breathless (1959), he begins to become one of the major directors in the French New Wave movement (Kline, 2004). Therefore, My life to live, as one of Godard’s works is inevitable to be associated with the French New Wave. 

My life to live (Vivre Sa Vie)(1962)

The French New Wave was born after the disastrous decline of the French film industry after world war II, with the influence of various factors such as culture, economy, politics, etc. As Raymond Durgnat said, “An artistic wave, like the works of art which compose it, is not a ‘substance’ around a definable ‘essence’, but a response to pressures and influences converging from many different ‘layers’ of reality—social, political, economic, ideological, artistic and personal” (n.d., quoted as in Kline, 2004, p.157). Due to various effects, there have been several definitions of the time period and the concept of the French New Wave (Neupert, 2007). However, what cannot be ignored is that a group of young directors who emerged during this movement have made a revolution in film practice (Kline, 2004). Influenced by Langlois and Bazin, they absorbed the nutrition of films from different countries, styles, and periods, attached importance to the criticism of film form, and elevate the film to the level as art (Kline, 2004). Therefore, the aesthetic and spirits of the French New Wave embodied in the films of these directors are worth exploring.

Jean-Luc Godard

Through analyzing the expression technique and director hallmark in My life to live, this article digs out the aesthetic and spirit of the French New Wave embedded in the film.

The French New Wave Aesthetic in My life to live

My Life to Live presents such an effect on the whole: in terms of film form, it has the characteristics of the documentary, as Godard (1972, p.179) said the camera here “is a witness”; and in the narrative, it is similar to literature. This aesthetic form is one of the poles of the New Wave. The New Wave films aim to erase the boundaries between professional and amateur film, as well as between fiction, documentary, or investigative film (Marie, 2003). 

In particular, for film form, follows the neorealism style. For example, a large number of scenes are shot on location with natural light and use long shots with depth of field (Figure 1). This style of expression is a common feature of French New Wave films. One reason is that the New Wave films are shoot on a low budget (Marie, 2003). The other is they influenced by film critic Bazin and cinephile culture (Thompson & Bordwell, 2003). As Thompson and Bordwell (2003) claimed that the French New Wave, as one of the new cinema trends of new European cinema, continued the postwar trends of young directors absorbing the neorealist aesthetics and art house films of the 1950s. 

Figure 1

For the narrative, it breaks the traditional cause-effect storyline by breaking a film into 12 tableaux which Godard (1972) considered theatrical (Figure 2). However, each “tableaux” are loose cause and effect and exhibited as Nana’s life fragments, such as having a conversation with Paul in the first “tableaux” and working in a record store in the second. Additionally, the production process of the film explained how those loose comes from. “Vivre sa vie would again be shot in an unorthodox manner, with Godard making many decisions during the production stage while working from a brief scenario and increasingly chaotic notes…” (Neupert, 2007, p.267). “there was no editing. All I had to do was put the shots end to end” (Godard, 1972, p.185). This way of production aligned with the New Wave aesthetic agenda, such as “The director privileges shooting in natural locations and avoids building artificial sets in the studio” (Marie, 2003). The theatrical “tableau” here adds the literary traits to the documentary expression mentioned above, which achieved the New Wave aesthetic form that erases the boundaries between fiction and documentary.

Figure 2

The French New Wave Spirit in My life to live

Godard's personal expression style in his films reflects many New Wave spirits, such as the traits of film critics identity, thought of author politics, and “Caméra-Stylo”. My life to live embodies these spirits carried by Godard.

Firstly, in the film, Godard's abundant metatextual reference reflects his legacy as a former film critic. For example, La passion de Jeanne d'Arc (1928) is referenced in the second tableaux（Figure 3）, and the 'Oval Portrait' of Poe is referenced in the tenth tableaux (Figure 4）. The rich reference to cultural products reflects his rich cultural heritage. This is a manifestation of his identity as a former film critic. The experience of film critics is the characteristic of New Wave directors. They gain an understanding of film culture and clear ideas about films by watching thousands of films, which are based on aesthetic choice, moral choice, personal taste, and sometimes even strong opposition (Marie, 2003).

Figure 3 & 4: metatextual reference of La passion de Jeanne d'Arc (1928) & 'Oval Portrait' of Edgar Allan Poe

Secondly, Godard’s different expression forms of language in the film reflects “Caméra-Stylo”(Camera-Pen) thought. For example, in the first tableaux, Nana and Paul are having a conversation back to the screen, which forces the audience to focus on the words themselves（Figure 5）. In the second tableaux, by referencing the silent film, the words are exhibit on the screen without dialogue（Figure 6）. In the six and seven tableaux, the camera directly shot Nana’s writing words on the paper, etc（Figure 7&8）. These attempts at language expression reflect Godard's view on language, that is, the problem of language has become Godard's leading motion in his works (Sontag, 2018, p.195). This kind of expression embodies the spirit of “Caméra-Stylo”. “Caméra-Stylo”, put forward by Astruc in 1948 on L’Ecran français, carries an idea that "before being an artist, the cinema, just like literature, is a language that can express any aspect of thought" (Marie, 2003, p.31). Godard’s film to express his thought of language aligns with this idea.

Figure 5-8: Godard's different expression of language

The features mentioned above in the film, such as the reference of literature and film, the use of images to explore language and theatrical narrative, reflect Godard's personal expressions. This is the embodiment of the spirit of “auteur politics”, proposed by Truffaut, the main idea that personal style is the sole criterion of aesthetic judgment (Kline, 2004). Therefore, in My life to live, Godard's directing style embedded with the creative spirit of New Wave, which is having personal critical on aesthetics, “Caméra-Stylo” and “auteur politics”.

In sum, My life to live fit in the French New Wave by carrying the aesthetic of erasing fiction and documentary as well as having Godard’s expression hallmark embedded with film critic, “author politics” and “Caméra-Stylo” spirits.  

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Reference list

Braunberger, P. (Producer) & Godard, Jean-Luc(director) (1962). Vivre sa vie: Film en douze tableaux [My life to live] [Motion Picture]. France: Les Films de la Pléiade.

Godard, Jean-Luc (1972). Godard on Godard. New York: Da Capo Press.

Kline, T. J. (2004). Chapter 8: The French New Wave. In E. Ezra (Ed.), European Cinema (pp. 157-175). New York: Oxford University Press.

Marie, M. (2003). The French new wave: an artistic school. Cornwall: Blackwell Publishing.

Neupert, R. (2007). A History of the French New Wave Cinema. (2nd ed.). London: University of Wisconsin Press.

Sontag, S. (2018). Ge da er [Godard]. In S. N. Guan (Ed.), Jijin Yizhi de Yangshi [Styles of Radical Will] (pp. 151-196). Shanghai: Shanghai Translation Publishing House.

Thompson, K. & Bordwell, D. (2003). Chapter 20: New Waves and Young Cinemas 1985-1967. In A. McNamara (Ed.), Film History: An introduction (pp. 439-458). New York: McGraw-Hill.